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Compiled this info on ancestors of Braxton Bragg, my Great Great.. Grandfather and descendent of Thomas and Molly Bragg:

Bragg

   Thomas (1580)
       England
       Virginia, James Town
       married(1610): Molly Newport(b.1580 father, Adm. Christopher Newport)
           William(1624), John

Adm. Christopher Newport was born about 1554 in England.

Adm. Christopher Newport, capt of fleet of ships that brought first settlers to Virginia.

On May 13, 1607, three small English ships approached Jamestown
Island in Virginia—the Susan Constant of 100 tons commanded by Capt.
Christopher Newport and carrying 71 persons; the Godspeed of 40 tons
commanded by Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold and carrying 52 persons;
and the Discovery, a pinnace, of 20 tons under Capt. John Ratcliffe, carry-
ing 21 persons.

The dates of his initial and subsequent voyages between England and the plantation at Jamestown have been recorded as, "December 19, 1606, to July 29, 1607, his first voyage to Virginia; October 8, 1607, to May 20, 1608, his second voyage to Virginia; July, 1608, to January, 1609, his third voyage to Virginia; June 2, 1609, to September, 1610, his fourth voyage to Virginia; and March 17, 1611, to December, 1611, his fifth voyage to Virginia." These dates are consistent with the claim by Philip L. Barbour that Newport served the Virginia Company for about five years and made numerous supply trips between England and the colony.

Besides the first voyage in which he was responsible for planting the colony in the New World, his fourth voyage is also notable. Sailing from Plymouth on June 2, 1609, in company with Sir George Somers, in the Sea Venture, a violent storm separated them from the rest of the supply, and shipwrecked them on what is now the island of Bermuda. Building a small pinnace rather than await rescue (if it even arrived), they set sail, arriving in Virginia in May 1610.


Upon conclusion of his service to the London Company, and still not ready to settle down, he was employed by the East India Company in 1612 to carry Sir Robert Sherley to Persia. This obligation was carried out between January 7, 1613, to July 10, 1614, when in command of "the Expedition of London of about 260 tunnes burthen," he made his first voyage to the East Indies. His second voyage was made in Lion, when he accompanied "Sir Thomas Roe, Embassador from the King of England (James I.) to the Great Mogoll of India (Shah Jehan)," from January 24, 1615, to about September 1616. Newport's third and final voyage to the East Indies began early in 1617, when he sailed in command of Hope, with Hound as consort.


Alexander Brown takes up the tale whereby the Hope arrived at Bantam, on the isle of Java, on August 15, 1617, with "commander Captain Newport, who reported that seven ships were sent this year from England to Surat." Soon after the arrival of Newport, and prior to September 1, "there dyed out of the Hope, Captaine Newport that worthy Seaman and Commander." The Hope remained at Bantam until January 20, 1618, taking on cargo before returning to England, arriving on September 1, 1618, and bringing, as Alexander Brown speculates, "the first account of Newport's death."


Ranging the both Atlantic and Indian oceans, Captain Christopher Newport was not one to remain idle while the Seven Seas remained to be sailed and explored. From his beginnings--somewhere, someplace in England--we perceive our first glimpse of him "commanding in the waters of the West Indies; we leave him as he sinks to rest beneath the far-off waters of the East Indies. " His legacy remains: a founder of the English colonies in America, it may be said that he was one among a few that prepared the foundation for future generations. If there were to ever be a monument to this most notable among notables, it would be incomplete without this accompanying description:


"The admiral of Virginia lived on the ocean; he died on the ocean; the ocean is his tomb, and his admirable monument, and the city of Newport News, whether named for him or not, will be his memorial in America


   William (b.1624)
       Northampton, Virginia
       married: 1646
           John(1647)

   John (b.1647)
       married: (1663)
           Joseph(b.1670), George(b.1670)

   Joseph (1670-1747)
       b.Old Rappahanock, Virginia
       d.Richmond County, Virginia
       married: Mary Tapp(1689) b.1670, d.1731
           Joseph B.(1690-1747), Charles(1692-1759), Ruth(1694-1768)

   Joseph B. (1690-1747)
       b.Lunenburg Parish, Old Rappahannock County, Virginia
       d.Richmond County, Virginia
       married: Mary Settle(1716) b.1699, d.1726
               Joseph(b.1719), Thomas(b.1721), Mary (1723),                    Catherine(1724), Elizabeth(1726)
           Elizabeth Nash(1730)
               William(1731), John, Benjamin(1735), Moore,                    Newman(1739), Joseph jr.(1741), Richard(1743)

   Joseph (1719-1816)
       b. North Farnham, Richmond, Virginia
       d. Sullivan County, Virginia
       married(1740): Susannah Dozier(1702)
           John(b.1741), Doshur(1745), Peggy(1750), Phoebe,                Cpt. Thomas(1754-1820), William(1755-1834), Joseph,                Mary(b.1760), Elizabeth(1765-1848), Reuben

   John (1741- )
       North Carolina, Ocracoke Island
       married(1765): Hannah Tolson(1742)
           Anna (1766-1848), Penelope(b.1768),
           Sidney(b.1771), Philip, Bonatta(b.1775),
           Thomas(b.1778), Hannah(1781), Lovey(b.1782), John(1784-1863)

   Thomas (1778-1851)
       married: Margaret Crossland
           John, Thomas, Alex, Braxton, Dunbar, William,
           Elizabeth, Catherine, Sarah, Mary, Margaret

       John (1806-1876)
           N. Carolina
           Alabama, Mobile
           married(1847): Mary Frances Hall (1827-1869)
               John (d.1918)

       Thomas (1810)

       Braxton T. (1817)
           married: Eliza Brooks Ellis
               (parents: Richard G. & Mary Jane Ellis,
               "Evergreen Plantation", Terrebonne Parish, La)
           Bragg Plantation "Bivouac", Parish Lafourche, Thibodeaux, La

           1862 - Crescent Regiment Volunteer Infantry (24th Reg. Inf.) The regiment played an important role in the capture of two Federal divisions at the Hornet’s Nest during the Battle of Shiloh. The next day, the men supported the 5th Company, Washington Artillery, and prevented the enemy from capturing three of the battery’s guns. In the battle, 23 of the regiment’s men were killed, 84 were wounded, and 20 were missing. Retreating with the army to Corinth, the regiment was disbanded on June 3 by General Braxton Bragg at the expiration of its enlistment.
           President Abraham Lincoln makes his position absolutely clear. The army of General Don Carlos Buell is to follow Braxton Bragg's men into East Tennessee. Lincoln has longed to see this pro-Union territory reclaimed since early in to war.
           As Braxton Bragg's ragged column nears the safety of Cumberland Gap, the commander of Knoxville, General Sam Jones, gathers all the flour he can procure and sends it to the Gap to feed the hungry men. The slow pursuit of Bragg's army by Don Carlos Buell is further hampered by the rampaging cavalrymen of John Hunt Morgan.
           The head of Braxton Bragg's column reaches Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. Brigadier-General A. J. Smith, leading the faltering Federal pursuit, wires Cincinnati: "O, a kingdom for four regiments of cavalry!"
           RICHMOND, VA., October 20, 1862. - General BRAXTON BRAGG, Cumberland Gap, via Knoxville, Tenn.: Send an intelligent officer of your command with a full statement of your plans for future operations and such information as will be desirable in relation to your army and all knowledge you possess of the enemy. Co-operation between your command and that of Generals Holmes and Pemberton is indicated. This is from the President. S. COOPER, Adjutant and Inspector General.

           In an effort to bolster his weakened command, on the march to Murfreesborough, Braxton Bragg asks if he can "draw upon Kirby Smith for any surplus he may have?" Unfortunately for Bragg, the tortuous retreat from Kentucky has also taken its toll on Smith's command.

HEADQUARTERS. - Cumberland Gap, Tenn., October 22, 1862. - General BRAXTON BRAGG, Commanding, &c.: - GENERAL: The head of my command has just arrived here. My men have suffered on this march everything excepting actual starvation. There must be not less than 10,000 of them scattered through the country trying to find something upon which to live. Of the provisions left for me at Cumberland Ford all were taken by General Cheatham's command...and all along my route reports reach me of the provisions left for my men being seized by the Army of the Mississippi. Unless some provision is made for me ahead the remaining 6,000 men now left in ranks will also have to scatter through the country to pick up something to eat....I am, general, respectfully, your obedient servant, E. KIRBY SMITH, Major-General, Commanding.

           Unhappy with the report of Colonel Walter, sent to Richmond by Braxton Bragg to explain his Kentucky debacle, and concerned about reports of dissension in the army, Bragg is ordered to report in person to Jefferson Davis.

RICHMOND, VA., October 23, 1862. - General BRAXTON BRAGG: Colonel Walter has arrived. For conference with you the President desires, if you find it practicable to leave your army for a few days, that you will lose no time in coming here. S. COOPER, Adjutant and Inspector General.

           Braxton Bragg has persuaded Jefferson Davis to approve "the combined operations" he has proposed for Middle Tennessee. Davis' permission allows Bragg to draw "such...troops from the Department of East Tennessee...for such time as these operations may require." It is left to Kirby Smith, whose troops are being sent to reinforce Bragg, to determine if he will remain in Knoxville or "accompany the army corps drawn from [his] department." Bragg plans to make his base at Murfreesboro and position his troops to threaten the Union stronghold at Nashville, Tennessee.

SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 255. - ADJT. AND INSPECTOR GENERAL'S OFFICE, Richmond, Va., October 31, 1862. With a view to combined operations, the command of General Bragg will embrace such portions of the troops belonging to the Department of East Tennessee as circumstances may render necessary: and for such time as the exigency of the operation may demand. By command of the Secretary of War: JNO. WITHERS, Assistant Adjutant-General.


           Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg returned from the war to his "once prosperous" Alabama home to find "all, all was lost, except my debts."

           Monthly report of Lands which have come into the possession of Capt. C. E. Wilcox, Asst. Supt. Freedmen in charge of Bragg Home Colony near Thibodeaux, La. During the month of September 1865.

Name of Plantation: Greenwood.
Name of Former Owner: Braxton Bragg.
Location Parish: Lafourche three miles from Thibodeaux.
Boundaries: North: swamp; East: D. Jamison's plantation; South: Bayou Lafourche; West: L. Lasaigne's plantation.
How Held: Abandoned.
Number of Acres: cultivated: 220; cleared: 480; woodland: 940; total: 1,640 acres.
Buildings: dwellings: 2; sugar: 1; double cabins: 18; single cabins: 5; stables: 2; stores: 2; saw mill: 1; school: 1; blacksmith shop: 1; hospital: 1. Total: 35.

Bragg Plantation:
2 dwelling houses, condition fair;
1 sugar house, condition bad;
10 cabins, condition fair;
13 cabins, condition bad;
2 stables, condition fair;
2 store houses, condition fair;
1 saw mill, condition bad;
1 school house, condition bad;
1 blacksmith shop, condition fair;
1 hospital, condition poor;
1 rest hospital, condition poor.

After peace had been established, he accepted the position of chief engineer for the state of Alabama, and had entire charge of the improvements in Mobile Harbor.

There is no information on any family that can be found. All history books or any details of Braxton himself is centered on his military roll during the Civil War. He and his wife were found listed on the Census of 1850 and 1860 as indicated, but nothing found yet on 1870. No children were listed in either census.

Elizabeth's obituary in the New York Times was very short and no mention of family, only that she was the widow of General Braxton T. Bragg.

Braxton's obituary in New York Times was quite lengthy, but again all was on his military career. Not even any mention of who his parents were.


       Fatal Shooting in Mobile, Alabama
Involves Son of General Braxton Bragg
The Baltimore Weekly Sun
Baltimore, Maryland

e-mail: jacksonr@mindspring.com
July 15, 1871

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